U&PU is not a daily journal but a Blawg, defined by lawyer/blogger Denise Howell (Bag and Baggage) as "a web log written by lawyers and/or concerned primarily with legal affairs." Topics, however, will also include linguistics, politics, philosophy, literature, and, occasionally, Other Things. Read, share, and enjoy. Some rights reserved.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Calling London: hello, we love you.

That's a reference each to the Doors and the Clash, not in that order, and that's enough flippancy.

In this time of tragedy, in the wake of the coordinated terrorist attack upon London's commuters (and residents and peace of mind), I can't do better than did Kip, Esq.:

Murder of British people in New York is no different in nature from their murder in the heart of Britain itself. In the most direct sense, therefore, we have not just an interest but an obligation to bring those responsible to account.

Our sympathies to the victims and their friends and loved ones. And our best wishes, and thanks, to all our allies in the War on Terror in London and throughout Britain.

Well said. The NYT editorial, the piece by Friedman (flat world, flat world) about this being an issue in desperate need of Muslim involvement on the other side of the problem, this isn't enough. Attacks in London are not even "like" attacks on our soil. This is our civilization, our ally, our friend, our relatives, our ancestor-nation, our oppressor, our culture, our world under attack. Just because one has political differences with one's family members (and sister-countries, and fellow citizens) doesn't mean that their murder is diminished.

Terror's bad, folks, bad as it gets. Our current executive may be my least favorite American President, but his resolve to fight against and publicly denounce terrorism are not factors in that calculus. Today, let there be no divisive politics, let there instead be sympathy and succor and rage and measured response and unanimity of opinion: we the people of America, of the West, of Earth oppose this.

1 Comments:

Let me use this moment of unity to criticize the war on terror. Yes, that's irony. In all honesty though, what exactly are we trying to accomplish here? And please don't tell me that the war in Iraq has anything to do with the war on terror. We've created a recruiting base and haven for terrorists where before there was a pretty ironfisted dictatorship that didn't really get along with anyone in the muslim community, especially the neighbors. The main recipient of Saddam's terrorism was Iraqis, and, as depressing as this sounds, if that's reason enough for invading then we need to invade most of Latin America, China, Russia, the entire Middle East, all of Africa and South Carolina (kidding). If the goal of the war on terrorism is to eradicate a couple organizations, then that's fine, but let's do that. If it's to stop bombings of America and her allies...let's do that. Stop starving states of funding for local law enforcement. Stop letting the federal agencies use the department of homeland security as a toilet bowl for elements they don't want. Pour funds and personnel into our borders and airports. Unfortunately the response that terrorist attacks like this create in many Americans is something along the lines of "Muslims did this. Bomb them." I actually have a friend who says this. Well, call him an acquaintance. I blame action movies. And football.